Mastering is a Fine Art | But the basics are useful too!

video upload by Cinematic Laboratory

"First of all I am not a mastering engineer. I learned the basics at Abbey Road Institute which involve EQ, glue compression, a bit of analog color, a bit of sparkle (exciter), a tiny bit of glue reverb and a final EQ to iron out the final extremes. I learned from certified mastering engineers in London, but I don't have their experience of making any track from any artist sound better and ready for the big world. That's beyond a skill, it's an Art (with a capital A) and it takes years to learn. It would also require good ears, great taste, the ability to understand what the customer wants and extensive knowledge about what's competitive.

I've added this video to the Modular Classroom playlist [embedded below], but it's not a regular episode. I just feel it belongs there.

In the modular niche we don't work with console mixes (or tracks in a DAW). We usually record a single take to a single track and when it's recorded we can't tweak anything. It's 'frozen' in time. It's also unlikely to be able to record the same piece twice. In the modular niche we're back in the late 60's and early 70's. But we also have the advantage of using a real instrument that sounds amazing.

I recorded a problematic track for this video. I didn't know it was problematic until i listened with headphones. If you care a bit about a good final track, ready sharing on your new BandCamp album, here are a few tips you may find useful. Since we can't really change our stereo track, we may need to photoshop it a bit. With Mastering, 'less is more' is the golden rule. Sometimes people ask me about my 'mastering chain' because they like the sound of my patches. The hard truth is that I don't use any. I can't make it more less. I just record raw, and iron out possible problems BEFORE I record. When I record a Serge case, I don't have to fix anyhting. When I record a case with many digital modules, I get in-case clipping, tough resonance and stereo low end issues (mud). A DAW like Ableton offers all the tools you need, but the FabFilter tools are worth buying. You don't have to worry about subscriptions and new versions, they're excellent. I want to humbly recommend getting a reference headphone like the Sennheiser HD650. The most important part of mastering is having a reference you can trust. It's an expensive headphone, but we're used to expensive gear and it costs about the same as an average $350 module. It's nothing compared to your fancy case. You won't believe the stuff you haven't heard before. Pro engineers also listen on these headphones (I checked with Abbey Road London before I bought one). It also allows you to check your case patch without disturbing anyone. When you bring it to the DAW, you may not even like how it sounds on speakers. But your speakers are probably the most unreliable assets in your boxy room. This is why trust is so important. You'll need to have blind faith. You'll also notice your reverb is way, way, way more louder than you assumed it was. And reverb on low end is OK (creative choice) but it shouldn't make you dizzy or cause nausia. That's the true definition of a muddy mix. Fat and groundshattering low end is fine, can it can be stereo. It just shouldn't have phasing issues.

I'd recommend staying far away from AI aided mastering tools like Ozone because the AI is trained on regular music. It works very well, but not on the unpredictably complex 'tour de force' waves we make. You'll need to be a surgeon. However, you should also be aware that modular tracks already sound really, really good and rich. There's more benefit in preparing a good mix since you can't make it good with mastering. It's too late."

The Modular Classroom (advanced)